Letters To The Editor

June 22, 2002

Magnet School Good For

West Hartford

It appears that West Hartford school board member Joseph DeLucco would desire for us to forget the principles that our teachers from West Hartford schools have worked oh so diligently to teach students: sharing what we have with others and offering some of ourselves to those with less [Page 1, June 16, ``Praise For A Magnet School Exposes Education Divide''].

By opposing the concept of a Hartford-West Hartford magnet school, it seems that certain school board members are afraid that these Hartford students will contaminate our suburban students, schools and prestige. However, they are clearly ignoring benefits that this magnet school will bestow upon the town's children. Besides gaining valuable state funding for another school to end the space crunch in the town, middle school students will gain qualities of understanding and acceptance.

I am a 2001 Hall High School graduate. Through my educational career in West Hartford, I was constantly surrounded by the same group of students. In my senior year at Hall, there was not a single African American student in any of my advanced placement classes. Where is the diversity?

I would have greatly appreciated the opportunity to meet and befriend others with different backgrounds. Having just completed my freshman year at Wesleyan, I was exposed to a diversity that did not exist in my days as a West Hartford student. I was exposed to differing viewpoints, different social statuses and, most important, different backgrounds.

I applaud school board member Beth Bye's initiative to support and further investigate the Hartford-West Hartford school option. This magnet school would provide a greater opportunity for dialogue, acceptance and diversity.

Emily R. Polak

West Hartford

Not Just Fun And Games

Call me unpatriotic, but isn't promoting military enrollment by giving away video games intended to train children and teenagers in combat pushing it too far [Life, June 18, ``Army Enlists Virtual Soldiers'']?

I advocate responsible U.S. military development, but the actions described in the article struck me as absurd. Granted, the controversy concerning violent video games has been a debate for quite some time now, but this military campaign strikes me as unsettling, perhaps because the intentions are so overt.

I acknowledge the adolescent practice of playing guns and getting the bad guys as being relatively common. But the difference between playing guns and promoting military-based video games ``to reach young people,'' as U.S. Army Lt. Col. Casey Wardynsky stated, is that the pastime I remember as a boy is one largely dependent on imagination with no ulterior motives, such as those of our military recruitment officials. For them, it's the means to an end.

Robert P. VanCott

Enfield

Problem Tragic, But Not Surprising

I have been a police dispatcher for the past 14 years. ``Broken Rules, A Man Down'' [Page 1, June 13] brought home the worst fears of every dispatcher when a call goes wrong.

That ``glaring deficiencies'' were pointed out in the Hartford Police Department's dispatch center is a gross understatement. This article should be a wake-up call, not only for police administration, but also for town administrations and the public. How long has the police department been saying, ``We don't have enough staffing''? This problem is not exclusive to Hartford. A majority of cities and towns in Connecticut would greatly benefit from more staffing: not only for patrols, but also for their dispatch centers.

Many police administrations do not perceive the dispatch center as a vital part of the department. That is as far from the truth as possible. When you dial 911, you never see the person at the other end of the phone, but that person is the most vital link between your request for help and the help getting there. That unseen person has to live with the consequences of every call he or she dispatches, whether police, fire or ambulance. If the department is chronically understaffed, the consequences can be devastating.

The amount of work dispatchers are required to handle is staggering. These include answering 911 calls, answering routing phone calls for town departments and administration, taking walk-in complaints and questions and giving directions. At the same time, we are also dispatching police (and, in some towns, fire and ambulance) to other emergencies and routine complaints, keeping track of where everyone is at all times, running information for officers on investigations and motor vehicle stops, verifying and entering warrants. Many departments have only one dispatcher handling all of this. Is it any wonder that something gets missed or overlooked?

The only state-required training update for dispatchers is a biannual computer recertification. All other training is handled by learning on the job, as you go along and encounter each situation. Couple that with grossly understaffed dispatch centers and it only exacerbates an already critical situation.